Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 444: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has satisfied himself regarding the adequacy and quality of the available domestic water supply; the extent to which adequate storage capacity exists or is intended; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22816/06]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 446: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of water schemes throughout the country deemed to be polluted; the action taken or pending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22818/06]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 444 and 446 together.

Management of public drinking water supplies is the responsibility of the local authorities which have a range of instruments and measures available to them to produce and conserve sufficient stocks to meet anticipated needs and to ensure quality standards. In addition, my Department coordinates and finances a major programme of investment in improved infrastructure, active leakage control, telemetry and rehabilitation of water mains. Details of such projects are set out in the Water Services Investment Programme 2005-2007 which is available in the Oireachtas Library. The schemes included in the Programme are derived mainly from regular assessments of needs undertaken by local authorities, at my Department's request, as an input to the overall strategy for meeting necessary water supply and treatment requirements. Earlier this year, I announced a record allocation of €133 million for the 2006 Rural Water Programme. The main focus of this allocation is on upgrading group water schemes using sub-standard private sources. These schemes serve approximately 4% of households nationally and planned upgrades are being advanced as a matter of urgency.

Some €3.7 billion will be spent under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 on the provision of water services infrastructure. Substantial increases in water treatment and storage capacity, both for domestic and industrial use, are being achieved as a result of this investment. Schemes completed in the period 1997 to 2005 have produced additional drinking water treatment capacity equivalent to the needs of a population of over one million. The increase in storage capacity over the same period was sufficient to meet the requirements of a population of over 1.5 million. Successive Environmental Protection Agency reports on drinking water verify the fundamentally good quality of public drinking water supplies in Ireland. The most recent report, for 2004, has confirmed an overall compliance rate for all supplies of 96.4%. The report includes details of the results for all schemes monitored and is also available in the Oireachtas Library. Overall, the resources being put in place under the Water Services Investment Programme and the Rural Water Programme should ensure that the coverage and quality of the national water supply infrastructure is adequate to meet current and anticipated demands.